Believe it or not, one of the single greatest copywriting secrets ever discovered -- used in many of the highest-pulling magalogs from the big mailers -- can be found in an old comic book. Let me explain: About 20 years ago, Batman comic book sales were so pitifully low; DC Comics considered canceling some of their titles. There were many reasons for this, but the biggest was Batman just wasn't as popular as he had been. And then along came a guy named Frank Miller. Almost overnight, Frank Miller -- a truly brilliant writer and artist -- transformed Batman from a character nobody was interested in anymore...to being one of the most popular comic book characters in history. And he did it by creating a mini-series called "The Dark Knight Returns" -- which is about how a an older Batman, now in his 50's, is forced to come out of "retirement" to deal with an enormous swelling of crime, corruption and evil gripping the city. Okay, so what's this got to do with copywriting? A lot. Because this is one of those rare stories where you can open it up to any page and be "wowed." Doesn't matter if you read the beginning, the middle or the end -- every single page (literally) contains something that makes you go, “dang, that’s awesome!” -- whether you're a Batman fan or not, whether you even like comic books or not. It is that revolutionary a comic book, and if you ask anyone who collects comics, they will probably tell you this one story alone changed the way people looked at comic books forever. And you know what? In a lot of ways...this "wow factor" (as I like to call it) is almost always contained in great sales letters, too. It's true. In fact, the magalog people picked up on this years ago. Someone should be able to pick up your ad and start reading anywhere -- beginning, middle or end -- and be immediately interested and “wowed.” In other words, instead of someone looking at your copy and thinking, "oh, a sales letter", it should look like this fascinating letter filled with extremely interesting and important information people want to know more about. And, ideally, it should connect with your readers at any point on any page -- whether it's the headline, the middle of page three or even in the order form. If you want to see examples of this, start reading magalogs and sales letters from the big mailing houses like Boardroom, Agora or Phillips. Most of their controls are not just "sales pitches." Yes, they are selling you something. But they are also giving you interesting information that informs, challenges and sometimes even shocks you. Bottom line: Structuring your ads with this "wow factor" will dramatically increase your readership and...if you do the rest of it right...your sales. Ben Settle is a direct response copywriter and author of "The Copywriting Grab Bag". Although Ben rarely accepts clients, he freely shares his latest copywriting secrets and tactics on his website at http://bensettle.com Source: www.articlecity.com
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